Copyright 9to5Mac
Apple has filed its response to Fintiv’s trade secret complaint over Apple Pay from August. The response comes not because Apple needed to meet a court deadline, but because Apple is trying to move the case along. Despite Fintiv initiating the complaint two months ago, the company hasn’t actually served Apple, which would set the case in motion. Apple tells 9to5Mac that Fintiv is simply delaying and avoiding having its frivolous and meritless case tried in court. For context up to this point, see these stories: Apple pushes back on Fintiv’s latest litigious attempt to profit off Apple Pay Unsealed Apple Pay ruling explains Fintiv’s Texas retreat and weakens new Georgia case Right place, right judge Now, as Fintiv stalls, Apple’s response makes several key points. First, Apple points out that it pushed to move Fintiv’s patent case to California, but Fintiv insisted that the Western District of Texas was “the right place” and Judge Alan Albright was “the right judge” for the case. Apple’s response basically argues that Fintiv should not be allowed to suddenly select an unrelated district for its trade secret complaint after an unsuccessful bid to profit off Apple Pay in a district and court of its choosing in Texas. Reasons to dismiss the case Next, Apple argues that regardless of district and judge, Fintiv’s new claims should be dismissed for three reasons: Fintiv’s claims under the federal and Georgia trade secrets laws, as well as federal racketeering law, are barred because the company had known the underlying facts since 2014 but waited until August 2025 to sue after losing its patent case. The Georgia racketeering claim is invalid because it relies entirely on trade secret allegations already governed by state trade secret law. Fintiv’s attempt to reframe its trade secret complaint as a racketeering case fails because it does not establish the required elements of an enterprise or a recurring pattern of illegal acts. And again, the court will have the added context of Fintiv not actually serving Apple with the lawsuit yet. Fintiv’s history of failing to profit off Apple Pay Apple notes that Fintiv has spent more than seven years trying to exploit a single patent that courts twice found Apple Pay does not use. Apple says it independently developed Apple Pay using its own patented technology and that Fintiv abandoned its prior case before it could be tried before a jury. Apple also argues that Fintiv’s new trade secret allegations just repackage the same failed patent claims under a different label. The company points out that the earlier patent itself publicly discloses the elements Fintiv now calls “secret,” meaning the technology cannot legally qualify as a trade secret. In addition, Apple highlights that two former CorFire employees cited in Fintiv’s complaint joined Apple in 2015 (after Apple Pay had already launched in 2014,) undermining any claim that their hiring contributed to the product’s development. Finally, Apple describes Fintiv’s racketeering allegations as an overreach built on the same weak foundation as its trade secret claims. It says the supposed criminal “enterprise” amounts to Apple’s ordinary business relationships with partners, not any form of illicit activity. Apple’s filing Here’s Apple’s response filed this week in full: For now, the case remains stalled until Fintiv actually serves Apple with the complaint. Unless that happens soon, Apple’s response may end up advancing the matter before Fintiv does.
